Women's Equality Day

{{Infobox holiday |

|holiday_name=Women’s Equality Day

|observedby=United States

|duration= 1 day

|frequency=annual

|date=August 26

|type=Historical

|significance=Anniversary of 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote

|image=19th Amendment Pg1of1 AC.jpg

|caption=Page 1 of House Bill

}}

file:Women’s Equality Day (30004393205).jpg, Anna Eshoo, Barbara Lee and Jackie Speier on the 96th anniversary of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, when women won the right to vote.]]

Women's Equality Day is celebrated in the United States on August 26 to commemorate the 1920 adoption of the Nineteenth Amendment (Amendment XIX) to the United States Constitution, which prohibits the states and the federal government from denying the right to vote to citizens of the United States on the basis of sex. It was first celebrated in 1971, designated by Congress in 1973, and is proclaimed each year by the United States President.

History

The date was chosen to commemorate the day in 1920 when the Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby signed the proclamation granting American women the constitutional right to vote.{{Cite web|url=http://werehistory.org/womens-equality-day/|title="Women's Equality Day"|last=Gustafson|first=Melanie|date=August 26, 2016|website=We're History}}

= 1970s =

In 1971, following the 1970 nationwide Women's Strike for Equality,[https://www.cliohistory.org/click/library/timelines/politics-social/#c1629 "Women's Equality Day"], Click! The Ongoing Feminist Revolution and again in 1973, as the battles over the Equal Rights Amendment continued, Congresswoman Bella Abzug of New York introduced a resolution to designate August 26 as Women's Equality Day.{{cite magazine|last1=Berman|first1=Eliza|title=Meet the Woman Behind Women's Equality Day|url=https://time.com/4459168/womens-equality-day-bella-abzug/|magazine=Time|date=August 26, 2016}}

In 1972, President Richard Nixon issued Proclamation 4147, which designated August 26, 1972, as "Women's Rights Day" and was the first official proclamation of Women's Equality Day.{{cite web |title=Proclamation 4147—Women's Rights Day |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/proclamation-4147-womens-rights-day}} On August 16, 1973, Congress approved H.J. Res. 52, which stated that August 26 would be designated as Women's Equality Day and that "the President is authorized and requested to issue a proclamation in commemoration of that day in 1920 on which the women in America were first guaranteed the right to vote".[http://uscode.house.gov/statutes/pl/93/107.pdf Text of Public Law 93-105, authorizing the designation of Women's Equality Day (pdf)]. August 16, 1973. The same day, President Nixon issued Proclamation 4236 for Women's Equality Day, which began, in part: "The struggle for women's suffrage, however, was only the first step toward full and equal participation of women in our Nation's life. In recent years, we have made other giant strides by attacking sex discrimination through our laws and by paving new avenues to equal economic opportunity for women. Today, in virtually every sector of our society, women are making important contributions to the quality of American life. And yet, much still remains to be done".[http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=106917&st=women%5C%27s+equality+day&st1= 1973 Proclamation by President Nixon], The American Presidency Project.

= 1980s =

In 1981, 21 women wore white and chained themselves to the White House to call for the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment.{{Cite web |title=From the Suffragists to the ERA: Women's Rights Protests and Lafayette Park |url=https://www.whitehousehistory.org/from-the-suffragists-to-the-era-womens-rights-protests-and-lafayette-park |access-date=2025-03-18 |website=WHHA (en-US) |language=en}}

= 2020s =

{{As of|2024}}, every president since Richard Nixon has issued a proclamation each year designating August 26 as Women's Equality Day.[https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/advanced-search?field-keywords=%22Equality%20Day%22&field-keywords2=&field-keywords3=&from%5Bdate%5D=&to%5Bdate%5D=&person2=&category2%5B0%5D=59&items_per_page=50&order=field_docs_start_date_time_value&sort=desc Search page, "Equality Day"], The American Presidency Project.

Go Topless Day, an annual event started in 2007,{{cite news | url=https://www.torontosun.com/2011/08/28/topless-protest-in-to | title=Topless Protest in T.O. | newspaper=Toronto Sun | date=August 28, 2011 | access-date=March 2, 2012 | author= Yuen, Jenny | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111213132714/https://www.torontosun.com/2011/08/28/topless-protest-in-to | archive-date=13 December 2011 }}{{cite news | url=https://nationalpost.com/posted-toronto/where-and-when-you-can-go-topless-in-ontario-and-what-it-has-to-do-with-ufos | title=Where and When You Can Go Topless in Ontario, and What It Has to Do with UFOs | work=National Post | date=August 27, 2011 | access-date=March 2, 2012 | author= Hume, Jessica}}{{cite news | url=http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2011/08/22/Protests-demand-equal-topless-rights/UPI-97541314038767/ | title=Protests Demand Equal Topless Rights | publisher =United Press International | date=August 22, 2011 | access-date=March 2, 2012}} is scheduled for the Sunday nearest Women's Equality Day, because of "Sylvie Chabot's remark that August 26 is Women's Equality Day in the US because it is on August 26, 1920 that women won their constitutional right to vote."{{cite web | url=http://www.gotopless.org/gotopless-day | title=2012 Go Topless Day | publisher=GoTopless.org | access-date=March 2, 2012}}[http://raelianews.org/e107_plugins/download/request.php?259 news352e.pdf] "The date was chosen thanks to our sister, Sylvie Chabot's remark that August 26 is Women's Equality Day in the US because it is on August 26, 1920 that women won their constitutional right to vote." The event encourages women to go topless in public, and men to cover their chests by wearing brassieres or bikinis.{{cite news | url=http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2011/08/19/topless-protest-to-be-held-in-middle-of-air-and-water-show/ | title=Topless Protest to Be Held in Middle of Air And Water Show | work = CBS News | date=August 19, 2011 | access-date=March 2, 2012}}{{cite web|url=http://laist.com/2008/08/26/shirts_off_equal_rights_for_topless.php|title=Shirts Off! Equal Rights for Topless Women Demanded|publisher=|access-date=November 15, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190825090539/https://laist.com/2008/08/26/shirts_off_equal_rights_for_topless.php|archive-date=August 25, 2019|url-status=dead}}

=Other holidays honoring women=

Rosa Parks Day (February 4 / December 1)
National Girls and Women in Sports Day (one day first week of February)
Susan B. Anthony Day (February 15)
International Women's Day, (March 8)
Harriet Tubman Day (March 10)
Mother's Day (second Sunday in May)
Helen Keller Day (June 27)

References

External links

=Presidential Proclamations of Women's Equality Day by decade=

1970s: [https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/proclamation-4147-womens-rights-day 1972 (called Women's Rights Day)], [http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/STATUTE-87/pdf/STATUTE-87-Pg1238.pdf 1973], [https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/proclamation-4309-womens-equality-day-1974 1974], [https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/proclamation-4383-womens-equality-day-1975 1975], [https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/proclamation-4451-womens-equality-day-1976 1976], [https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/proclamation-4515-womens-equality-day-1977 1977], [https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/proclamation-4590-womens-equality-day-1978 1978], [https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/proclamation-4674-womens-equality-day-1979 1979], [https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/proclamation-4785-womens-equality-day-1980 1980]
1980s: [https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/proclamation-4854-womens-equality-day-1981 1981], [https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/proclamation-4958-womens-equality-day-1982 1982], [https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/STATUTE-97/pdf/STATUTE-97-Pg1607.pdf 1983], [https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/archives/speech/proclamation-5227-womens-equality-day-1984 1984], [https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/archives/speech/proclamation-5364-womens-equality-day-1985 1985], [https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/archives/speech/proclamation-5518-womens-equality-day-1986 1986], [https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/STATUTE-101/pdf/STATUTE-101-Pg2175.pdf 1987], [https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/archives/speech/proclamation-5850-womens-equality-day-1988 1988], [https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/proclamation-6010-womens-equality-day-1989 1989], [https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/proclamation-6170-womens-equality-day-1990 1990]
1990s: [https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/proclamation-6317-womens-equality-day-1991 1991], [http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=47390 1992], [http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/STATUTE-107/pdf/STATUTE-107-Pg2719-2.pdf 1993], [https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/proclamation-6715-womens-equality-day-1994 1994], [http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/STATUTE-109/pdf/STATUTE-109-Pg1808.pdf 1995], [http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/STATUTE-110/pdf/STATUTE-110-Pg4548.pdf 1996], [https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/proclamation-7017-womens-equality-day-1997 1997], [https://clintonwhitehouse4.archives.gov/women/equalityday.html 1998], [https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/proclamation-7215-womens-equality-day-1999 1999], [https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/proclamation-7334-womens-equality-day-2000 2000]
2000s: [https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2001/08/20010824-1.html 2001], [https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2002/08/20020824-3.html 2002], [https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2003/08/20030826-1.html 2003], [http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/WCPD-2004-08-30/pdf/WCPD-2004-08-30-Pg1693.pdf 2004], [https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2005/08/20050825-4.html 2005], [https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2006/08/20060821-3.html 2006], [https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2007/08/20070806-4.html 2007], [https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2008/08/20080825-1.html 2008], [https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/presidential-proclamation-womens-equality-day-2009 2009], [https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2010/08/26/presidential-proclamation-womens-equality-day-2010 2010]
2010s: [https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2011/08/25/presidential-proclamation-womens-equality-day 2011], [https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2012/08/24/presidential-proclamation-women-s-equality-day-2012 2012], [https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2013/08/23/presidential-proclamation-womens-equality-day-2013 2013], [https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2014/08/25/presidential-proclamation-womens-equality-day-2014 2014], [https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2015/08/24/presidential-proclamation-womens-equality-day-2015 2015], [https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2016/08/25/presidential-proclamation-womens-equality-day-2016 2016], {{Ws|2017}}, [https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2018/08/29/2018-18928/womens-equality-day-2018 2018], [https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/presidential-actions/presidential-proclamation-womens-history-month-2019/#:~:text=The%20equal%20opportunity%20of%20women,for%20the%20benefit%20of%20all. 2019], [https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/presidential-actions/proclamation-womens-equality-day-2020/ 2020]
2020s: [https://bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/08/26/a-proclamation-on-womens-equality-day-2021/#:~:text=NOW%2C%20THEREFORE%2C%20I%2C%20JOSEPH,2021%2C%20as%20Women's%20Equality%20Day. 2021], [https://bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2022/08/25/a-proclamation-on-womens-equality-day-2022/ 2022], [https://bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2023/08/25/a-proclamation-on-womens-equality-day-2023/#:~:text=May%20we%20be%20a%20Nation,2023%2C%20as%20Women's%20Equality%20Day. 2023], [https://bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2024/08/23/a-proclamation-on-womens-equality-day-2024/./ 2024]